AN EDWARDS CHRONOLOGY, by Kenneth P. Minkema

This chronology of Edwards's undated writings is based on that established by Thomas A. Schafer, Wallace E. Anderson, and Wilson H. Kimnach, supplemented by volume introductions in The Works of Jonathan Edwards , by primary sources dating from Edwards' lifetime, and by secondary materials such as biographies. Attributed dates for literary productions indicate the earliest or approximate points at which Edwards probably started them. "Miscellanies" entries are listed approximately in numerical groupings by year rather than chronologically; for more exact dating and order, readers should consult relevant volumes in the Edwards Works. Entries not preceded by a month indicates that the event in question occurred sometime during the calendar year under which it listed. Lack of a pronoun in a chronology entry indicates that it regards Edwards.

1703

October 5: born at East Windsor, Connecticut

1710

January 9: Sarah Pierpont born at New Haven, Connecticut

1711

Father Timothy serves as chaplain in Queen Anne's War

1712

Awakening at East Windsor; builds prayer booth in swamp

1714

August: Queen Anne dies; King George I crowned

1716

September: begins undergraduate studies at Connecticut Collegiate School, Wethersfield

1718

October: moves to New Haven to continue studies in newly built Yale College, but shortly returns to Wethersfield upon dissatisfaction with tutor Samuel Johnson

1719

June: returns to New Haven after Johnson's removal
Writes "Of Insects"
Suffers bout of pleurisy during last year of college

1720

May: completes baccalaureate degree
September: delivers Valedictory Oration; begins graduate studies at New Haven

1721

Summer: conversion experience at East Windsor
Writes "Of the Rainbow," "Of Light Rays"
Begins "Natural Philosophy," "Of Atoms," "Of Being," "Prejudices of the Imagination"

1722

May: completes graduate studies
June: Father Rale's War begins
August: begins preaching to English Presbyterian congregation in New York City
September: Yale College Rector Timothy Cutler and tutors convert to Church of England
Begins "Resolutions," "Diary," "Catalogue of Books," and "Miscellanies"

1723

April: New York City pastorate ends
May 1: returns to East Windsor
May 18: returns to East Windsor after a week's journey to Norwich, Connecticut, and "towns thereabouts"
June 8-9: at Boston
June 15: back in East Windsor
June 23: at Boston
June 25: back in East Windsor
July-August: prepares Master's Quaestio
September: delivers Quaestio at New Haven, receives M.A., begins "The Mind"
October: writes "Spider Letter," begins "Notes on the Apocalypse"
November 11: agrees to settle as pastor of Bolton, Connecticut
Writes "Apostrophe to Sarah Pierpont"
"Miscellanies" aa-94

1724

January: begins "Notes on Scripture"
May 21: elected tutor at Yale College, leaves Bolton thereafter
First week of June: journeys to New Haven to begin tutorship
"Miscellanies" 94-146

1725

May: begins "Beauty of the World"
Summer: at East Windsor
September-December: illness, convalesces at North Haven and East Windsor
December 15: Father Rale's War ends
December: begins "Table to the Miscellanies," "Christ's Example"
"Miscellanies" 152-195

1726

April-July: preaches intermittently at Glastonbury, Connecticut
mid-summer: returns to New Haven
August 29: asked to assist Solomon Stoddard by Northampton church
September: resigns tutorship
October 26: begins preaching as probationer at Northampton
November 21: Northampton votes to give £100 salary, £300 to build house, and 50 acres of land
"Miscellanies" 196-237, 261-262, 267-274, 313-314

1727

February 15: ordained at Northampton as assistant pastor
July 28: marries Sarah Pierpont in New Haven
August: King George I dies; King George II crowned
October 29: earthquake in evening
"Miscellanies" 238-55, 279-305, 315-317

1728

January: begins "Faith"
August: begins "Images of Divine Things," "Signs of Godliness"
August 25: daughter Sarah born
"Miscellanies" 256-260, 265-266, 275-278, 306-310, 318-384

1729

February 11: Solomon Stoddard dies; Edwards becomes senior pastor
April-May: illness, travels to New Haven
June: suffers physical collapse
July: resumes preaching
August-early September: people of Northampton build Edwards a "Good Large Barn"
December: sister Jerusha dies of "malignant fever"
"Miscellanies" 385-454

1730

January: begins "Discourse on the Trinity"
April 26: daughter Jerusha born
October: first entries in "Blank Bible"
"Miscellanies" 455-487

1731

January: "Miscellanies" beginning at no. 488
May 7: purchases "Negro girl named Venus" for £80 in Newport, R.I.
July 8: preaches Boston lecture, later published as God Glorified in the Work of Redemption
First Wednesday in October: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Westfield
Salary increased to £140

1732

February 13: daughter Esther born
April 11: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Hatfield
September 5: earthquake at noon
October 3: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Springfield
Salary increased to £200

1733

January: "Miscellanies" 612
April 11: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Hadley
June: preaches in Boston
October 9: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Springfield
December: preaches at East Windsor
"Miscellanies" beginning at no. 625

1734

January 19: Ebenezer Hunt's hatshop burns
January: journeys to Boston, accompanied by Deacon Allen's son
April 7: daughter Mary born
April 16: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Sunderland
August: preaches A Divine and Supernatural Light, thereafter published
October 8: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Suffield
November: "Miscellanies" 668
December: Connecticut Valley revivals begin

1735

March 25: Thomas Stebbins unsuccessfully attempts suicide by cutting his throat
April 8: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Springfield
June 1: Joseph Hawley, Sr., commits suicide by slitting his throat
August: joins opposition to Robert Breck's ordination at Springfield
September-October: goes to New York City to improve health
November: vote passed to build new meetinghouse

1736

January: Bernard Bartlett is whipped and fined for slandering Edwards; Robert Breck is ordained at Springfield
February: preaches at Springfield
February 10: Grandmother Esther Warham Mather Stoddard dies
March 16: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Deerfield
January 26: salary £200 plus improvement of half of sequestered lands
August: "Miscellanies" 698
August 21: sister Lucy dies of "throat distemper"
August 31: daughter Lucy born
September 16-27: new meetinghouse raised
October 12: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Enfield
November 6: completes short account of late revivals, published as appendix to William Williams' Duty and Interest of a People
November 16: preaches ordination at Lambstown
Fall-winter: Joseph Bellamy comes to study with Edwards

1737

February 11: salary £300 plus use of half of sequestered land
February: preaches at Springfield
March 13: Northampton meetinghouse gallery falls
March 21: visits Rev. Stephen Williams at Longmeadow to confer about printing reply regarding Breck controversy
April 26: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Northampton
June: preaches at Portsmouth, N.H.
July 11: visits Longmeadow
July 21: spire raised on new meetinghouse
October 8: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Hatfield
December 7: earthquake at 11 p.m.
December 25: new meetinghouse dedicated
Publishes A Letter to the Author of the Pamphlet Called An Answer to the Hampshire Narrative (co-authored with brother-in-law Samuel Hopkins of West Springfield)
A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God published in London

1738

January 26: voted salary of £250 plus improvement of half of sequestered land
March: Northampton votes to build a town house for precinct and court sessions (completed 1739)
April 18: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Longmeadow
April-October: preaches Charity and Its Fruits (published 1852)
May 5: old meetinghouse pulled down
May: Sarah Pierpont Edwards goes to Boston, stays at Benjamin Colman's
July: Mrs. Bridgman admonished for drunkenness
July 25: son Timothy born
September 15-16: in New Haven to attend Yale commencement; dines at Rev. Joseph Noyes' on 15th, visits college library on 16th
September 19: Ebenezer Hunt's hatshop burglarized by Samuel West, who is caught and branded
October 10: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Westfield
October: "Miscellanies" 756
December 4: £50 added to salary
Publishes Discourses on Various Important Subjects
Corrected edition of Faithful Narrative published in Boston

1739

February: "Miscellanies" 788
March-August: preaches History of the Work of Redemption (published 1774)
May 2: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Northfield
May 24: preaches lecture in Boston
May 25: dines at Joshua Gee's in Boston
May 28: lodges at Rev. Ebenezer Parkman's of Westborough
June 12: Noah Cook, Stephen Wright, and Ebenezer Pomeroy chosen deacons
July: delivers lecture at New Haven
July 22: Mrs. Bridgman excommunicated for drunkenness
August 19: three new deacons ordained
August: "Miscellanies" 807
October 9: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Northampton
November 26: voted salary of £220 plus improvement of half of sequestered land
Winter: "Miscellanies" 832

1740

January: "Miscellanies" 841
March: measles epidemic; several Edwards children ill
April 1-2: Sarah Pierpont Edwards lodges at Parkman's of Westborough on way to Boston
April 8: attends Hampshire Association meeting at West Springfield
April 14: preaches funeral sermon of Rev. Nehemiah Bull at Westfield
May 7: preaches ordination sermon of Edward Billing at Cold Spring
June 15: Fifteen-man Northampton church committee appointed to assist in "matters of difficulty"
June 20: daughter Susannah born
July 20: Hannah Pomeroy admonished for breach of Ninth Commandment
August: "Miscellanies" 847
September 3: travels to Longmeadow to see cousin Eunice Williams, the "unredeemed captive"
September: attends Yale commencement
October 17-19: George Whitefield preaches in Northampton; Edwards accompanies him as far as East Windsor
October-November: controversy over public access to "inner commons"
November: "Miscellanies" 859-860
November 25: in New Haven to execute will of Mrs. Mary Pierpont, Sarah Pierpont Edwards' step-mother
December: writes "Personal Narrative" in reply to request from Rev. Aaron Burr

1741

January 20: voted salary of £280 for previous year
January 21: preaches ordination sermon of Chester Williams at Hadley
April 7: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Deerfield
April 14: preaches at Suffield
April 15: preaches at Second Church, Hartford
May: "Miscellanies" 862
July 1: preaches at Longmeadow
July 8: preaches Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God at Enfield, published shortly thereafter
August 1: preaches at Hadley in morning
August-September: awakening peaks in Northampton
August 24: Hannah Pomeroy excommunicated
August-September: "Miscellanies" 874; Great Awakening peaks at Northampton
September 2: preaches funeral sermon of William Williams of Hatfield, published as The Resort and Remedy of Those That Are Bereaved by the Death of an Eminent Minister
September 10: delivers Distinguishing Marks of the Work of the Spirit of God at Yale commencement, published shortly thereafter
October 14: preaches at Enfield
December-late March: Samuel Hopkins comes to study, Edwards preaching elsewhere when he arrives; "Miscellanies" 903

1742

January 19-February 4: Sarah Pierpont Edwards experiences series of religious ecstasies, afterwards undergoes treatment for "hysterical original"
January 25: leaves for eastern Massachusetts as visiting preacher
January 27: supply preacher Samuel Buel arrives at Northampton and renews awakening until after Edwards returns home
January 28-29: preaches at Leicester
February 1: preaches in Sutton
February 2: preaches at Westborough
February 3: starts return to Northampton; preaches at Worcester
February 10: voted salary of £350 in "bills of credit" plus wood and improvement of half of sequestered land
March 16: covenant renewal at Northampton
Late March: Hopkins leaves to be licensed
April: preaches in Boston on unspecified day (recorded by diarist Sarah Gill)
May-end of summer: Hopkins comes back to study
May 18-19: Sarah Pierpont Edwards and Yale freshman John Searle lodge at Parkman's of Westborough en route to Boston
May 26: Sarah Pierpont Edwards in Boston
May 29-31: Sarah Pierpont Edwards and Searle lodge at Parkman's of Westborough on return to Northampton
June: "Miscellanies" 991
Fall-Winter: writes Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England
October 12: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Longmeadow
October 20-21: lodges at Parkman's of Westborough en route to Boston
December 8: John Lyman's house burns, two children killed
Begins sermon series (apparently ending in 1743) eventually published as Treatise Concerning Religious Affections\

1743

January 11: salary £300 plus wood and improvement of half of sequestered land;
February 15-17: at Westfield to hear disciplinary case of exhorter Bathsheba Kingsley
March: Some Thoughts published; Edwards leads council of ministers in New London to "reclaim" people incited by James Davenport
May 9: daughter Eunice born
May: journeys to Boston with daughter Sarah to attend ministerial convention
June 8: preaches ordination sermon for Jonathan Judd in Southampton, published as The Great Concern of a Watchman for Souls
June 12: Samuel Danks excommunicated for fornication
September 6: returning from Yale commencement, lodges with Jonathan Judd at Mr. Leavenworth's of Waterbury
October 18: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Somers
November 2: Northampton precinct votes to give public access to inner commons for ten more years, after which land is to revert to proprietors
November 22: voted salary of £350 plus improvement of half of sequestered land

1744

February 1-2: travels to Suffield
March: "Bad Book" hearings begin
April 17: attends Hampshire Association meeting at West Springfield
May 25: Sarah Pierpont Edwards, Jerusha Edwards, and Samuel Hopkins lodge at Parkman's of Westborough
June 3: "Bad Book" culprits Oliver Warner and Timothy and Simeon Root make public confession before church
March: King George's War begins
August 30: preaches ordination sermon for Robert Abercrombie at Pelham, published as The True Excellency of a Minister of the Gospel
October 9: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Westfield
November 8: salary £350 plus wood and improvement of half of sequestered land
"Miscellanies" 1067-1069

1745

March: Cape Breton expedition; Edwards proposes town fix a permanent salary
May 26: son Jonathan born
June 17: Louisburg taken after 47-day siege
October 2: Esther Edwards and Elihu Lyman lodge at Parkman's of Westborough en route to Boston
October 9: attends Hampshire Association meeting at Hatfield
December 6: salary £350 plus wood and improvement of half of sequestered land
Publishes Copies of Two Letters Cited by The Reverend Mr. Clap and An Expostulary Letter from the Reverend Mr. Edwards

1746

May 14-15: Sarah Pierpont Edwards and Maj. Pomeroy's grandson lodge at Parkman's of Westborough en route to Boston
May: watchtowers built in Northampton against attacks
August 19: French and Indians take Ft. Massachusetts; Edwards parsonage "forted in" and quartered with soldiers
August 25: Indians raiding party attacks near Southampton
September 19: preaches ordination sermon of Samuel Buel at East Hampton, Long Island, published as The Church's Marriage to Her Sons, and to Her God
October 28: attends Hampshire Association meeting at South Hadley
December 10: salary £500 plus wood and improvement of half of sequestered land
Publishes A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections

1747

April: hearing of fornication case against Thomas Wait
May 6: daughter Elizabeth born
May 28: David Brainerd arrives in Northampton
June 9: Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards leave for Boston
June 11: Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards dine at Parkman's of Westborough en route to Boston
July 21: Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards lodge at Parkman's of Westborough on return to Northampton
July 25: Brainerd and Jerusha Edwards return to Northampton
August: Indian raid near Southampton
October 9: Brainerd dies at Edwards parsonage
October 12: preaches Brainerd's funeral sermon, published as True Saints, When Absent From the Body, Are Present With the Lord
October: An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of Godís People in Extraordinary Prayer published
Autumn: begins work on Life of David Brainerd
December 25: voted permanent salary of £600 plus wood and improvement of half of sequestered land

1748

February 14: daughter Jerusha dies
March: voted permanent salary of £700 plus wood and improvement of half of sequestered land
May: civil settlement given to Martha Root for maintenance of Elisha Hawley's illegimate child; Indian raid at Southampton causes inhabitants to abandon town till winter
May-August: numerous Indian raids on frontier
Mid-June: Sarah Pierpont Edwards goes to Boston to care for ailing John Stoddard, stays at Edward Bromfield's
June 19: John Stoddard dies at Boston
June 26: preaches funeral sermon of John Stoddard at Northampton, published as A Strong Rod Broken and Withered
June: council meets to decide controversy between Northampton church and Elisha Hawley
July 26: Fifteen-man Northampton church committee appointed to take care of "order and purity" of church and "trial and judgment" of cases
July: Elisha Hawley excommunicated
Summer: "Miscellanies" 1101
September 17-19: dines at Hartford and visits and preaches at East Windsor with Joseph Emerson
September 19-20: travels to Charles Pynchon's at Longmeadow and lodges at Samuel Hopkins' of West Springfield
October 18: Treaty of Aix la Chapelle signed, ending war in Europe
December: completes An Account of the Life of the Late Reverend Mr. David Brainerd; young man from Northampton asks to be admitted to church, but declines after seeing profession Edwards writes for him

1749

February or March: Mary Hulbert asks to be admitted to church, but church committee refuses to proceed due to Edwards' new opinion
May: £170 added to salary
June: council of ministers meets to hear grievances between Northampton church and Elisha Hawley
Mid-June-September: daughter Mary goes to Portsmouth, N.H.
Mid-June: leaves for Portsmouth, N.H., via Worcester and Concord
June 28: preaches ordination sermon of Job Strong at Portsmouth, published as Christ the Great Example of Gospel Ministers
Early July: leaves Portsmouth, stops at Boston, returns to Northampton via Worcester
August: An Humble Inquiry into the Rules of the Word of God published
October 17: treaty signed with eastern tribes, ending French and Indian War
December 26: preliminary council meets to consider controversy between Edwards and Northampton church
Winter: "Miscellanies" 111

1750

February 7-8: second council meets to consider controversy between Edwards and Northampton church
April 8: son Pierpont born
June 11: daughter Sarah marries Elihu Parsons of Northampton
June 19: final council meets to consider controversy between Edwards and Northampton church
June 22: dismissed as pastor of Northampton
July 2: preaches Farewell Sermon (published 1751)
July-November: preaches on supply basis at Northampton
August 21-22: Edwards, sister Martha, and Rev. Moses Tuttle lodge at Parkman's of Westborough en route to Boston
August 30-31: Edwards, sister Martha, and Moses Tuttle lodge at Parkman's of Westborough on return from Boston
September: Joseph Bellamy's True Religion Delineated published, with preface by Edwards
October: preaches in Stockbridge
November 8: daughter Mary marries Timothy Dwight of Northampton

1751

January-March: preaches in Stockbridge
February 22: called to settle as minister of Stockbridge
March: "Miscellanies" 1180
May 6-7: lodges at Parkman's of Westborough on return from Boston
May 16: council convened in Northampton to advise on forming a second church in Northampton, with Edwards as pastor
June 12: visits Parkman's of Westborough, journeying from Boston to Stockbridge
June 17: returns to Stockbridge
August 8: formally installed as pastor to English and Indian congregations at Stockbridge
August 16: preaches at meeting of members of Massachusetts General Assembly with Mohawks at Albany, New York
October 10: daughter Esther lodges at Parkman's of Westborough
October 13: preaches at Northampton
October 18: family moves to Stockbridge

1752

June 15: Thomas Stebbins of Northampton commits suicide by throwing himself down a well
June 29: daughter Esther marries Rev. Aaron Burr of Newark, N.J.
Summer: Misrepresentations Corrected, and Truth Vindicated published
August: "Miscellanies" 1200
September: travels to Newark to attend Presbyterian Synod of New York
September 28: at Newark, preaches True Grace, Distinguished From the Experience of Devils (published 1753)
November 22: Col. Joseph Dwight of Stockbridge submits report to Mass. General Assembly aiming to turn Edwards out of post

1753

Winter: daughter Esther Burr ill
February: Indian boys' schoolhouse burns
March 14: writes last will and testament
April: completes first draft of Freedom of the Will
Spring: son Timothy journeys to Newark, N.J. to prepare to matriculate at College of New Jersey; contracts smallpox in April
October: preaches at Boston
November: preaches at Sheffield
"Miscellanies" beginning with no. 1227
December: contingent of Mohawks leave Stockbridge

1754

February: Seven Years' War begins; Edwards given sole charge (by chief donor Isaac Hollis) of Indian schools at Stockbridge
March: nearly all the remaining Indians leave Stockbridge; "Miscellanies" 1277b
March 19: visits John Ballentine at Westfield
Late March-mid-April: travels to Westfield, Greenfield (to preach Edward Billing's installation sermon), and East Windsor
Spring: Waumpaumcorse, a Schaghticoke Indian, is murdered at Stockbridge by two English horse thieves
July: long period of ill health, lasting about a year, including "fits," "agues," and "scorbutic maladies"
Summer: Edwards parsonage fortified and quartered with soldiers against fears of Indian attacks
September 1: Schaghticokes kill four in a raid on Stockbridge
December: Freedom of the Will published; two Englishmen whipped at Stockbridge for desecrating Indian grave

1755

February 11-13: reads recently completed End for Which God Created the World to Bellamy and Hopkins; The Nature of True Virtue probably completed shortly thereafter (published 1765)
Mid-April: son Jonathan leaves on mission to Onohquaga, N.Y., with Gideon Hawley (returns January 1756); daughter Lucy visits Mary Edwards Dwight at Northampton
April 22: lodges at Ballentine's of Westfield en route to East Windsor to visit sisters; suffers fall from horse
April 30: lodges at Ballentine's of Westfield on return to Stockbridge
May 1: lodges at John Ballentine's of Westfield with one son
May 8: lodges at John Ballentine's of Westfield with two sons
May: preaches at Northampton
June: Crown Point expedition; Elisha Hawley among those killed
July 9: Gen. Edward Braddock's forces defeated at Monongahela River in western Pennsylvania, with Braddock among the dead
August 11: lodges at John Ballentine's of Westfield
August 14: French take British forts at Oswego
September 8: English victory at battle of Lake St. Sacrament
September 9: Battle of Lake George
September 23: arrives at Burr's home in Newark, N.J., to attend College of New Jersey commencement and Presbyterian synod
October 5: preaches at Newark
October 7: sails for New York
October 12: sails from New York bound for Stockbridge
November 18: earthquake between 4 and 5 a.m.

1756

April 22: lodges at John Ballentine's of Westfield with wife and Capt. Sheldon
August 30: daughter Esther Edwards Burr arrives in Stockbridge
September 7: Sarah Pierpont Edwards leaves to stay in Northampton for about a month to help daughter Mary Dwight with new baby, Erastus
September 22: daughter Esther Burr leaves for home
Early October: visits East Windsor and Northampton
"Miscellanies" beginning with no. 1281

1757

May: completes Original Sin
June: visits East Windsor and Boston
June 15-16: lodges at Parkman's of Westborough with Gideon Hawley
September 24: Rev. Aaron Burr dies
September 29: trustees of College of New Jersey write to offer presidency
October 6: visits John Ballentine in Westfield
Autumn: unspecified illness
"Miscellanies" beginning with no. 1358

1758

January 4: council convened at Stockbridge releases Edwards from Stockbridge post
January 27: father dies
February 16: assumes office as president of College of New Jersey
February 23: inoculated for smallpox
March 22: dies of complications from inoculation
April 7: daughter Esther Burr dies
July 31: Sarah Pierpont Edwards and son Jonathan visit Stephen Williams at Longmeadow
October 2: Sarah Pierpont Edwards dies of dysentery in Philadelphia
Original Sin published

1759

July 25: estate inventoried and probated
August 4: slaves Joseph and Sue, "lately the proper goods of . . . Jonathan Edwards, deceased," sold to John Owen of Simsbury, Conn., for £23, by executors Timothy Edwards and Timothy Dwight